12 Days of Christmas
by thegoldensnitch102
Summary: Hermione absolutely adores Christmas but when someone puts a partridge in a pear tree in her office, even she thinks it's a bit much!
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree

**A/N I absolutely adored writing this. Properly put me in the festive mood as I put on a Christmas playlist on Spotify, and curled up with a little glass of port and some after eights.**

* * *

 **A Partridge in a Pear Tree**

Hermione Granger, seasoned employee of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, sighed deeply to herself and tried to ignore the chirping in the corner. Christmas was only a few weeks away and she was determined to make it through her rather large To Do List so she would be able to relax properly during her well-deserved time off.

Although normally known for her sensible and level headed nature, at Christmas time, she could admit to herself, that she lost her head a little. She'd always loved Christmas as a child, building snowmen, drinking hot chocolate, watching the magical moment when her town's Christmas tree lights were turned on.

It was a time when her hard working dentist parents took time off so they could properly celebrate as a family. As an adult it had now become a running joke with her friends over just how excited she became as soon as the 1st December hit. She would decorate her flat and office to the hilt and would drag her friends to any Christmas market that she could find. Her friends found it amusing and indulged her in her Christmas obsession, enjoying seeing the more playful side of their usually rather uptight friend.

Her work colleagues had taken slightly longer to get used to the change that seemed to take over Hermione and her office during the Christmas season. Unused as many of them were to Muggle traditions, they couldn't help but be carried away by her enthusiasm, and let her organise an annual Secret Santa present exchange. Last year however one new work colleague had been particularly scathing in his reaction.

Draco Malfoy had joined the Department during the summer of the previous year, much to Hermione's displeasure. It had been five years since the Battle of Hogwarts and she'd barely clapped eyes on him since. She'd heard he'd gone to France after the war with his mother. Lucius Malfoy was of course in Azkaban, minus the Dementors thanks to Minister Shaklebolt, but Draco and Narcissa were let off with a large fine that barely made a dent in the Malfoy coffers. Malfoy Manor was boarded up and son and mother had apparently moved to one of their larger French houses.

When Draco Malfoy joined the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, at first he mostly kept to himself. When Hermione had to work with him, they both went out of their way to be extremely polite and professional, a task that was unbearably difficult at times. They often had to swallow the rude retorts that would so easily spring to their lips.

When Hermione said, "I think you may be mistaken." In reality she would mean, "How on earth can you think that you prejudiced backward, sleezy little ferret?"

When Draco said, "Shall we call it a day and resume our discussion next week?" He actually meant "I'd rather kiss Umbridge than spend one more minute listening to you, you bushy haired priss!"

On the days after they had a meeting they would, separately of course, have a glass of wine as a reward to congratulate themselves on being able to maintain a façade of professionalism. Hermione, who was living with Ginny, would have her snorting with laughter when she shared what she would really have loved to say to him.

Draco would meet Theo and Blaise in The Leaky Cauldron where he would have them smirking at his impressions of Hermione as she enthused about the latest proposal.

Their masks of professionalism lasted until Christmas.

On the 1st December, Draco had come to her office for their weekly meeting and his jaw had dropped at the sight before him. A Christmas tree as tall as Hagrid seemed to fill the entire office, complete with twinkling lights, tinsel and what looked like ornaments a child had made. Christmas music was blaring out an unfamiliar tune that had the lyrics, "Ruldolf with your nose so bright, won't you guide my slay tonight."

His professional mask slid off completely.

"What is all this crap Granger?" he had said bluntly and rather aggressively.

Rather taken aback by his change of tone, Hermione nevertheless beamed brightly back at him as she declared, "It's Christmas Malfoy!"

"And?" he had replied while raising one eyebrow and somehow managing to look extremely superior.

Her smile had abruptly dropped from her face as she had frostily replied, "Just because you're a grump doesn't mean the rest of us have to be."

"No one else has become a crazy person, that's just you!" he had scoffed, "in this scenario, I'm the normal one."

"You normal? I hate to break it to you Malfoy but no-one else resembles a ferret."

It was a low blow but she couldn't seem to help herself. Now that the professionalism had gone, all that she had supressed during their many meetings seemed to be coming to the forefront.

His cheeks had taken on a slightly pink tinge at her words, then he seemed to pull himself together as he'd sneered at her, "I'd rather look like a ferret than Madame Pince."

From that day it had become all-out war and Draco had seemed determined to rob her off her festive cheer. He disappeared all the chocolates in her advent calendar. She charmed his office door to play, "We wish you a Merry Christmas," every time he opened it.

He set tree eating ants in her room which demolished her Christmas tree. He had woken up with antlers on his head and had to go to work like that. She tried to act innocent when he confronted her, but the fact she had fallen off her chair laughing had slightly given it away.

Once the Christmas season had ended they seemed to have reached a truce. Hermione's office may have gone back to normal but their working relationship did not. Although not out rightly rude, most of the time, they now said what they meant and often had heated debates varying from polices in their Department to Hogwarts curriculum. A grudging respect had developed between them and occasionally they even conceded when the other had made a good point.

This year Hermione had been slightly dreading what would happen when Little Miss Claus and Scrooge met once more. The season seemed to only emphasis their differences- her sunny disposition and eternal optimism and his 'Bah Humbug' attitude to life with his cynicism and fierce dislike of anything whimsical.

She actually enjoyed working with him now and didn't want to go back to their outright war of the year before or to go back to their polite professionalism.

She had set her office up as usual with its over the top declaration of Christmas and just hoped he wouldn't react as badly this year.

Hermione had just finished her latest proposal and had satisfactorily ticked it off her To Do List when there was a knock on the door and in walked Harry Potter.

"You look pleased with yourself," he remarked.

"You would be too if you were one step closer to being able to full embrace Christmas," Hermione smiled at her friend.

"Fully embrace?" Harry said laughingly, "What do you call all this then?" as he gestured to the many signs of Christmas in the room. "What's the pear tree about? That's new! And why's there a bird in it?"

"It's a partridge to be precise," she replied. When he still looked puzzled she explained, "You know like in the song? 'On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.'" She had automatically sang this and broke off slightly embarrassed at her out of tune voice.

"Isn't that going a bit overboard, even for you?" Harry teased, "Can we expect Rudolf next?"

She glared at him in response, "I didn't put it there! I just arrived this morning and it was there. No idea how someone got past my office wards."

Harry immediately jumped up at her words and pointed his wand at the tree. "Is it safe?" he said, "Could this be some kind of death plant? Remember what happened to that ministry worker Bode back in our fifth year? How his Christmas present turned out to be Devil's snare and throttled him to death!"

He quickly started to run diagnostic spells on the tree to check.

"Yes Harry it's safe. Sit down," She said impatiently, "I've checked it already. It truly does seem to be nothing but a partridge in a pear tree."

"I'm nearly done," said Harry, clearly not listening to her as he performed the last of his checks. The partridge chirped shrilly, clearly having taken a dislike to Harry getting so close.

When he had finally finished and sat down again, he helped himself to a Quality Street sweet from her sweetie tree on her desk and asked, "Well who on earth do you think put it there?"

"I don't think it's someone who means me any harm, just a harmless joke. To be honest I thought it might have been you and Ron if it hadn't been for your overreaction," she stated.

Harry smiled sheepishly at this. "Constant vigilance?" he offered. He thought for a moment and then asked, "Well what about Malfoy?"

"Malfoy?" she replied, "No I'd ruled him out right away. He hates Christmas with a passion and there's no way he'd know a Muggle Christmas song."

"True," mused Harry, stroking his recently grown beard thoughtfully. "I'll put my Auror skills to use and see if I can do some digging for you and find the culprit."

Hermione laughed at that. "Thanks Harry, you're like the big brother I never had or needed," and she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll just put some extra wards on my office and I'm sure that will be the last of it."


	2. Two Turtle Doves

**A/N Sorry for the delay, I've been sick. Woe is me. Finally on the mend and obviously hope to have this finished over the Christmas period. Thank you for the lovely reviews.**

 **Two Turtle Doves**

That was not to be the last of it.

As soon as Hermione flooed into the Ministry the next day, a dove landed on her shoulder with a soft "Coo."

"Aren't you a pretty little thing," said Hermione, her insides going slightly mushy at the sight of the cute dove.

Just as she reached up a finger to stroke it, another dove landed on her other shoulder. "Is this your friend?" she asked the first dove.

"Talking to yourself Granger? They say that's the first sign of madness but in your case, everyone already knew you were rather deranged." This was said by Draco in a rather sarcastic drawl that lacked any real bite or malice.

"Good morning to you too, Malfoy," Hermione replied, "I see you got out of the wrong side of bed today as per usual."

"Who says I went to bed?" he said, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

To her slight horror, Hermione felt her cheeks begin to blush, but recovered quickly as she scornfully replied, "Please Malfoy we all know how much you value your beauty sleep."

"Are you calling me attractive?" he asked amusedly.

Hermione made a scoffing sound in reply.

Looking curiously at the doves, who appeared to be napping on her shoulders, Draco asked, "Is it bring your pet to work day? I didn't get the memo."

"As if you read half the memos that come across your desk. But no, they were already here when I arrived."

Speaking to the doves now in a soothing tone she said, "Go back to your owners now little doves, shoo, shoo."

Draco let out a hearty laugh as the doves refused to move. One opened its eyes, looked at her and then went straight back to sleep.

Hermione was caught off guard by this rare laugh from Draco. He was always so contained and controlled. It always fascinated her to hear a belly laugh coming from this poised man and she was mesmerised by the way his whole face would light up.

She remembered the first time she'd heard him properly laugh, a few months after their post- Christmas truce.

He had come to her office to get her signature on something and she had asked if he had a quill on him that she could use.

At his disbelieving expression she'd said impatiently, "It's just a quill Malfoy, I seem to have misplaced mine." She couldn't understand why he was being so difficult about it.

He had burst out laughing, that full hearty laugh she had just heard now. As annoyed as she was that he was laughing at her, she couldn't help but notice how attractive he looked when he laughed.

"Merlin, where did that thought come from?" she had asked herself at the time.

When he had finally finished laughing he had walked over to her chair, much to her discomposure. He reached down to her hair, while she mutely watched, mouth suddenly dry.

"Here's a quill Granger," he said, smiling down at her and giving her the forgotten quill she had stuck in her hair earlier.

She had slightly shakily signed the proposal while he looked at her curiously. Later that night she had confessed to Ginny how the incident had thoroughly discombobulated her.

"You had a moment with Malfoy!" Ginny had said with glee. "So do you like him? As in like him like him?"

"It's Malfoy," Hermione had wrinkled up her nose. "It's just been a while since I've had any male attention, that's all. Maybe it's just a sign that I finally need to give in and let you set me up with someone."

Ginny had squealed excitedly at this point. "You won't regret it," she had rashly promised.

Back in the present day she shook herself out of the memory and tried to get rid of the doves again. "Shoo, shoo," she said in a much firmer tone.

"I can see you have your hands full or should I say shoulders," Draco smirked at her. "See you at the staff meeting later," and he sauntered off towards the lift.

Hours later Hermione was in her office, feeling rather frazzled, quickly gathering up her notes for the staff meeting for which she was now very late for.

She had had a rather trying morning in her attempt to discover who owned the two doves. The Ministry receptionist had been no help at all. No one had reported any doves missing and she refused to look after them until someone claimed them.

"Not my department," she had said flatly.

"Well whose department is it?" asked Hermione biting back her frustration.

"That would be yours miss," the receptionist had smiled gleefully up at Hermione.

For some reason the receptionist had taken a dislike to Hermione over the past year. When she had brought it up with Harry, he'd cluelessly said, "She's always nice to me."

Hermione had just rolled her eyes at him. The receptionist was one of those girls who liked to giggle incessantly at any young male that came across her path. She seemed particularly struck with Malfoy, for whom nothing was every too much trouble.

"Thank-you for your time," said Hermione sweetly and gave her a simpering smile.

At her office her face had lit up when she had discovered the doves had a tracer on them. "Now we'll find out who you belong to," she had said to the birds.

However when she matched their tracer with the data base, the name that came back was her own- Hermione Granger.

She had checked and rechecked but it seemed like she was apparently the owner of two doves. Two turtle doves to be precise.

She looked at them suspiciously and then at the partridge in the pear tree that was still in the corner of her office. She hadn't been able to remove either the partridge or the pear tree.

Sighing to herself she sent a memo to Harry detailing the latest turn of events. Perhaps she would need his Auror skills after all to get to the bottom of whoever was sending her these 'gifts.' Merlin knew she had no time to spend on the matter herself.

She hadn't managed to get anything done off her To Do List and was now running late for the staff meeting. The doves didn't seem to want to be separated from her so she had put them in a cage and resigned herself to having to bring them with her to the meeting.

"Hopefully they would be quiet!" she thought herself as she hurried out the door.


	3. Three French Hens

**A/N Hope everyone's been able to have some festive fun! I watched 'The Man Who Invented Christmas' today and I definitely recommend it.**

* * *

 **Three French Hens**

Hermione groaned as her alarm clock went off, and hit the snooze button. It had taken her ages to get to sleep the night before as she had kept reliving the staff meeting over and over.

Needless to say the turtle doves had not stayed quiet for the duration of the staff meeting.

Used to Hermione's idiosyncrasies, no one questioned that she had brought doves with her. She had after all once brought an endangered Golden Snidget with her, in order to emphasise a point.

Seeing her bring the doves into the meeting, Draco had raised an eyebrow at her questioningly to which she'd made a helpless gesture in response.

Everyone was however a little surprised at her lack of punctuality. Her boss, August Battersbea, an extremely ancient wizard, who should have retired years ago in Hermione's opinion, had pointedly looked at the clock at her entrance.

Hermione had muttered her apologies and then slinked into her chair like a reprimanded child, placing the dove cage under her chair.

All was fine, until Hermione had to give her monthly report. Halfway through a loud, "Coo," was heard. Hermione kept going, now speaking in a faster tone so she could finish quickly.

Then another, "Coo," was heard, followed by the sound of frantically flapping wings. It sounded like the doves were getting a little too friendly with one another.

Hermione valiantly tried to ignore it but she could see no one was paying her any attention as they were completely distracted by the amorous bird noises.

Just as it had reached peak noise, Draco, who was quietly chuckling to himself, cast a Silencio at the cage.

Hermione was completely mortified that she hadn't thought of that herself.

As soon as the staff meeting had finished she had bolted as fast as she could.

She'd had a rather large glass of wine that night with Ginny, who although tried to cheer her up, couldn't help but find the whole thing rather amusing.

"Cheer up, Hermione," the redhead had said, "I've got some good news for you!"

"Really?" asked Hermione excitedly, "You've finally decided to come to the Christmas markets with me in Germany?"

Ginny had made a face, "No, I told you I'm at my max of Christmas markets after last year when you made me go to every single Christmas market in London."

"It was hardly every market!" Hermione had exclaimed indignantly.

"Ok, ok, I exaggerate," smiled Ginny, "but only slightly. No the good news is that I've found you a date with another eligible bachelor."

"Nooooo," said Hermione, rather dramatically in Ginny's opinion, "No way! I told you after the last disaster I wasn't letting you set me up with anyone ever again."

Ginny had been true to her word and after Hermione's 'Quill Moment' with Malfoy, had immediately set about finding Hermione a date. It hadn't been that hard actually. As soon as she'd put word out there that Hermione Granger was in fact interested in dating, lots of men started showing an interest.

What had followed was what Hermione referred to as her 'dating season' where she had obediently went on every date Ginny set her up with. Now some of the men were nice enough, and some even made it to a second date, but when she would have her debrief with Ginny afterwards, the conclusion was always, in Ginny's words, that she "wasn't really feeling it."

After the last date had ended with him trying to convert her to a cult, she had declared that Ginny was no longer allowed to set her up with anyone.

Hermione did however value her 'dating season.' Each date had helped her work out what she was actually looking for in a partner as well as getting her over her fears of dating in general. She had to admit that chemistry was important, that there had to be an attraction there. Just lining up on paper wasn't enough.

She wanted someone who could keep up with her when she spoke and not just nod along, pretending to understand what she was talking about. She wanted someone who would challenge her as well as someone she could have fun with.

Hermione wasn't sure if such a partner existed, but she was determined not to settle for something mediocre, and in the meantime was getting on with her life and enjoying it.

Now, her alarm was going off again and Hermione knew she had to get up and face the day. Just as she had summoned the energy to have a shower she heard a tapping on the window. She normally didn't get her post till slightly later so feeling slightly puzzled she walked over to the window. A large, rather snooty looking owl was waiting for her with a rectangular wooden box in a wicker basket.

She offered the owl some owl treats which it turned its beak up at, obviously finding them to be rather inferior from its standard fare. The box looked rather fancy and Hermione cautiously opened it and she couldn't help but laugh out loud at its contents.

It was a rather expensive looking French wine, called 'Three French Hens.' It was a Merlot, which was her drink of preference, and it described itself as a 'warm and rustic red, freshly laid en France!'

The gift sender had perhaps got the message that there were only so many birds you could send a girl before she became extremely aggravated.

Hermione's brain went into analytical mode, who would know that she drank Merlot? Well anyone who had seen her drink at The Leaky Cauldron, after all her lack of adventurous ordering was a running joke with Tom the landlord.

She'd made a mental note to update Harry later and check in with how his investigations were going.

She looked thoughtfully again at the wine, the bottle was really beautiful and she could tell it was clearly very expensive. She decided to open it when she had finally completed her To Do List as a well-earned reward.

At work she felt really motivated and, while listening to Christmas music of course, she whizzed through her To Do List. Even the thought of her weekly meeting with Malfoy the next day wasn't enough to spoil her good mood.


	4. Four Calling Birds

**A/N Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are all having a most wonderful Christmas day.**

* * *

 **Four Calling Birds**

After her Very Good Day, Hermione had slept really well and woke up feeling refreshed.

So why, she thought to herself, did she feel anxiety bubbling away in her stomach?

Oh yes, she remembered, today would be the first time Malfoy would see her office decorated in all its festive cheer.

She had realised in the summer that she had begun to think of him as her friend. Something her Hogwarts self would never have believed to be possible.

It had been during a joint venture of theirs, where they were working towards the free availability of Wolfsbane amongst the werewolf population.

It had finally been passed in the Wizengamot and without thinking she had said to Malfoy they should go out for a drink after work to celebrate.

He had looked at her slightly strangely before his features smoothed over and he had replied, "Well we certainly deserve it, see you after work Granger," and had promptly left her office.

Hermione had gone in a slight panic over the fact she had just asked Malfoy to go for a drink with her. She then reasoned with herself that she went for drinks with her friends all the time, which is when it hit her that she now considered Malfoy a friend.

Doing research for their Wolfsbane proposal had meant they'd spent quite a bit of time together. Always at the Ministry but often having a working lunch where they'd stop and eat, while putting a break on work discussion and just chatting about anything and everything.

It was through those working lunches that she had learnt that he hated mushrooms and always carried a handkerchief, monogrammed of course with his initials.

She had also learnt not to speak to him for at least five minutes after he had commenced eating as he liked to savour the initial moments of tucking into his food.

She had learnt that he too loved 'Hogwarts: A History' and even had a signed first edition copy which she coveted.

And she had learnt that she very much enjoyed spending time with Malfoy and that a very small part of her was disappointed when their proposal had finally been passed as it meant she wouldn't be spending as much time with him.

She really valued her friendship with Malfoy and so she was worried that the sight of her Christmassy office would cause him to revert back to the previous year of meanness and pettiness.

With all her trepidation beforehand it was rather anti-climatic when Malfoy simply sat down in her office and didn't even comment on her decorations at all. Not even on the oddness of her having a partridge in a pear tree in the corner of her room.

His lack of response flustered her slightly and she knew she was behaving very oddly.

"Are you ok Granger? Your hair is doing that thing where it looks like it's going to attack me."

Draco seemed to have a fixation on her hair and had decided that it was a clear indicator of her moods. He constantly teased her about it, which mostly she took in good form but with all his "bushy haired" insults he had rallied at her at school, she was sometimes a bit sensitive about it.

She glared at him in response to his remark.

They worked hard over the next hour, and so Hermione was finally able to check another item of her To Do List, which Draco watched her do with some amusement.

"Are you coming to The Leaky tomorrow for Theo's birthday drinks?" he asked her casually.

"Yes, but I still can't believe Theo would do something so mundane and plebeian as going for drinks for his birthday," Hermione had replied, smiling.

Going for a celebratory drink with Malfoy had turned into a regular occurrence and they'd began inviting their friends along too. She didn't think she'd said two words to Theo at school, he'd always appeared quite aloof.

But over drinks she had discovered that he had a cracking sense of humour, with a really dry wit that could have her in stitches. He was also the most over the top, snobbish person she had ever met, sneering at her for merely ordering the house red. Theo didn't believe in mediocrity, something she could relate to, but he applied this to life, in particularly in throwing the most elaborate themed parties.

Draco smiled back at Hermione's assessment, "Well the invitation did say to meet at The Leaky for drinks, but it never said we'd be staying there for the rest of the evening."

Hermione groaned, "I'm still finding glitter everywhere from the last party he threw. Thanks for the heads up, I'm going to bring an emergency bag with me to prepare for every eventuality."

"Till tomorrow night Granger," said Draco, giving her a mock salute as her left her office.

Hermione worked for a few more hours until she had another item ticked off her list.

As she was leaving her office, she noticed something shiny underneath her Christmas tree. Intrigued she went to have a look and saw that it was a beautifully wrapped small gold box with a delicate gold ribbon. There was no tag on it.

Opening it up carefully she gasped at what she saw. It was the most beautiful, delicate music box. When she opened the lid, four gold songbirds started to sing the tune to 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.' She knew instantly that it was something she would always treasure.

Four calling birds, of course, she thought to herself. This was definitely her favourite gift yet. Someone was clearly going to a lot of thought, so it didn't seem to just be a prank like she'd initially assumed.

Maybe it was Theo? He did like plotting intricate schemes and he did have rather good taste.

She was surprised she hadn't heard back yet from Harry about his investigations and determined to ask him about it later when he came to pick Ginny up for their date night.


	5. Five Gold Rings

**A/N Thanks for the lovely reviews. I can see what authors mean about how much they encourage you. Each one made me smile.**

* * *

 **Five Gold Rings**

When Hermione had talked to Harry about his investigations he was vague and evasive. He'd never been very good at lying, she thought fondly to herself, but why on earth would he lie about his investigations into who was giving her the gifts?

She'd told Ginny and Harry about her latest gift, the beautiful music box and shown it to them.

"Oh Hermione this is so beautiful," gushed Ginny, opening and closing the music box, fascinated with the way it made the music stop and start.

Hermione had snatched it off her, holding it carefully as she was afraid Ginny was going to accidently break it.

Harry hadn't said anything, just stiffly nodded his head in agreement with Ginny.

"So Harry any luck discovering who has been sending me these gifts?" asked Hermione, surprised at his lack of response to the music box.

Harry had tugged at his shirt collar uncomfortably and hastily took a drink of his water, managing to spill some of it down him.

Ginny looked at him in exasperation and cast a drying charm on him.

"Em, nope not really, I eh thought I had a lead but it turned out to be a dead end," stammered Harry.

"Oh," sighed Hermione, disappointed at his response. She turned the music box in her hands, looking at it thoughtfully.

Ginny looked perplexed as well, "What about the wine merchants for 'Three French Hens?' It looks to be pretty specialist wine, I'd have thought they'd have had a list of who they'd recently sold the wine to?"

At this Harry went to take another gulp of water but then clearly thought better of it. Refusing to meet either of their eyes he explained rather awkwardly, "They wouldn't give me a list of their customers, all very elite and private. I even tried the whole, 'I'm the Chosen One' card," he joked, "but no luck, sorry Hermione."

Hermione managed a smile, "No worries Harry, thanks for trying."

"I'll keep looking into it Hermione," Harry promised her, "Anyway Ginny we better go, our dinner reservations for 8pm," and he practically dragged Ginny towards the door.

Both girl were bewildered by his strange behaviour. Hermione mouthed to Ginny, "What's that about?"

The redhead had quickly mouthed back, "I'll find out!" before she was whisked out the door by Harry.

That had been the night before. Hermione had fallen asleep before Ginny returned, so she didn't get to question her to see if she'd found anything out at dinner.

Hermione was glad it was the weekend and was looking forward to Theo's birthday party that night. While she got ready, she spent some time musing at what the diva could have planned. Things were never what they seemed with Theo. At one of his parties he'd staged a murder mystery, and Hermione had immediately gone into battle mode, thinking their waiter really had been killed. She smiled to herself at the memory.

She had ended up pairing up with Malfoy, and they had worked so well together they'd solved the murder mystery in record time, much to Theo's displeasure.

"I should have known better than to pair up The Dream Team," Theo had grumbled.

Hermione had laughed at that, "Dream team?" she'd questioned Theo.

Draco had looked warningly at Theo which had caused him to snort, "Yes didn't you know that's what Draco calls you two?"

Hermione had blushed and Draco had opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the arrival of Blaise and Daphne, he were loudly demanding another clue from Theo.

She'd teased Malfoy about it later of course, and he'd denied all knowledge.

Taking one last look at her reflection, she headed to The Leaky Cauldron. She'd decided to wear her favourite jeans, combined with one of her more understated Christmas jumpers that was navy with a subtle reindeer pattern. She had with her her expanadable bag, filled with changes of clothes, a first aid kit and several books so she felt prepared for whatever Theo had in store for the evening.

She arrived at the same time as Malfoy and he looked at her admiringly, although smirked slightly at the sight of the Christmas jumper.

"Not wearing yours?" Hermione asked him innocently.

"Unfortunately, I left it at my parent's house and one of the peacocks took a shine to it. I believe it found it made a lovely nest," he answered, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

As part of their Christmas war last year, Hermione had gifted Draco a particularly hideous Christmas jumper, complete with flashing lights and a singing Christmas tree. She had no doubt it was no accident that the jumper ended up with the peacocks.

He held the door open for her as usual, with a polite, "Ladies first," automatically placing his hand on the small of her back as she entered The Leaky Cauldron.

Theo was already there, sitting like a King in their usual booth, surrounded by Ron, Daphne and Blaise. He greeted them with a cheery, "There's my Dream Team!"

Bounding over to them, clearly a few drinks under his belt already, he picked up Hermione and twirled Hermione her round. He then tried to do the same thing to Draco but found him to be rather less compliant than Hermione.

"Happy Birthday," Draco drawled, laughing at his friends pouting expression.

"First rounds on me," announced Hermione, "house red Theo?" she smirked.

Theo sniffed, "Just for that I'll have the most expensive champagne on the menu."

Turning to Draco she asked him, "Malfoy? I assume you want your usual?"

Before Draco could reply, Theo declared, "He'll have a champagne too, now off you trot Granger so Draco here can admire your lovely behind."

She heard Draco admonish Theo as she laughingly went to the bar. It was crowded tonight but it didn't take too long for Tom the barman, to come over. When he saw her, his face lit up in recognition and then disappeared to the back.

Hermione was intrigued when he came back with a gold wrapped gift for her. "Oh Tom, you shouldn't have," she said, immediately feeling embarrassed that she didn't have a gift for him.

Tom laughed, "It's not from me love, I was told to give it to you."

"By who?" asked Hermione, trying to be casual about the fact she was breathlessly waiting for his answer.

"Ah now, let's just say it's from a secret admirer," chuckled Tom, "Now what drinks can I get you?"

Hermione gave him her order and unwrapped the gift while he went to get her drinks, and it revealed a Tiffany's box. She couldn't help the girlish feeling of excitement she had at the sight. Breakfast at Tiffany's was one of her favourite films and she couldn't believe she was holding an actual Tiffany's box, never mind what could be inside it.

She was still admiring the box when Ginny appeared at her side, "Another gift?" she asked excitedly, "Well what is it?"

"Hello to you too," said Hermione, smiling at her friend, "I haven't even opened it yet, I've just been admiring the box!"

Ginny groaned, "Well hurry up, I'm dying to see what's inside."

"Alright, alright," said Hermione and she opened the box.

Both girls were speechless at the sight, nestled in soft velvet was the most exquisite bracelet. It was made up of five gold rings.

"That's some bling," said Ginny, starting in awe at the bracelet.

Tom arrived with the drinks on a tray for her, and placing the box on the tray, Hermione brought it to their booth.

Theo peered at the box with great interest, "What have you got there Granger?"

She opened it and showed the table, watching everyone carefully for their reactions.

"Tiffany's?" queried Theo, "I haven't heard of there."

"It's a famous muggle jewellery make," answered Blaise.

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

He shrugged his elegant shoulders, "My mother is rather fond of pretty things."

Draco inspected the bracelet but didn't say anything.

"Someone obviously thinks rather highly of you," said Daphne admiringly.

Everyone's reactions were normal enough, thought Hermione which she found highly frustrating. No clues there then.

She explained about the gifts she had been receiving and everyone spent some time throwing out ideas as to who the secret admirer could be. Each one more preposterous than the last.

"Krum?" asked Draco, giving her a cheeky smile. He would often tease Hermione about her teenage romance with the famous Qudditch player.

"He's engaged," replied Hermione.

"McLaggen?" asked Harry.

Hermione shuddered.

"Filch?" asked Theo.

Everyone shuddered.

When they had run out of ideas, Theo tapped his glass his wand, dramatically placing on the table an old, well-worn boot.

"This, my friends, is a Portkey and it will transport us to the next part of my birthday festivities. Trust me, it's going to amazing," he declared.

Reluctantly and with much chiding from Theo, everyone placed a finger on the Portkey. The boot started to glow and Theo grinned at them all in turn, winking at Draco as they were all whisked away.


	6. Ferris Wheel Magic

**A/N Slightly losing the motivation for this now that we're post-Christmas but determined to finish. Big thanks to my lovely reviewers, especially Hanatsumi- this one's for you!**

* * *

 **Ferris Wheel Magic**

Hermione was feeling smugly superior at her upright landing. Some of the others had not been so fortunate and were lying in ungainly heaps on top of each other. Draco, who had also managed an upright Portkey landing, caught her eye and smirked at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. She laughed and shook her head at him for knowing her so well.

Looking about her she saw they were in a very dark alley and realised that it was very cold.

"Where on earth have you taken us Theo?" demanded Blaise, pushing Theo off him as he stood.

Once Theo had righted himself with Harry's help, he smiled his megawatt smile at them all. "Follow me my little ducklings," he said and they all dutifully followed.

When they were all out of the alley way their jaws dropped, even the ever unimpressed Blaise's.

"Welcome to the best Christmas market in the world!" declared Theo.

Hermione squealed with excitement and ran and hugged Theo who laughingly hugged her back.

"And for the rest of us who aren't Christmas fiends, care to tell us where we are?" said Daphne shivering.

Still smiling at her, Theo replied, "We're in Nuremburg in Germany, which…"

Hermione couldn't help interrupting, "It's one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world as it can be traced back as far as 1628," she enthused.

"Yes yes," said Theo, slightly dismissively, "and more importantly the red wine spiked hot chocolate is apparently to die for."

Hermione cast a warming charm on herself and rummaged around in her bag until she found her hat, gloves and scarf. She looked up when Draco nudged her, pointing to Daphne. Ron had gallantly taken off his own coat and had wrapped it round her shoulders. Daphne looked up surprised but graciously thanked him with a peck on this cheek, turning his face crimson.

Groaning Hermione handed over a galleon to a very pleased looking Draco. He had bet her ages ago that Daphne and Ron liked each other, something which Hermione had denied vehemently.

Smiling down at her now he said, "For the Brightest Witch of Our Age, sometimes you miss things that are right in front of you."

Harry let out a scoff and Draco gave him an annoyed glare in response.

It was at that point that Theo announced he had drawn out Muggle money for them all, to be paid back at their leisure. Some of their group were unused to being out in the Muggle world and were feeling slightly apprehensive but Theo admonished them with a, "It's my birthday, come on and live a little."

Hermione was over the moon and completely in her element, delighting over all the different stalls. When it started to snow she had clasped her hands together in glee and had started twirling round, much to everyone else's embarrassment.

After a while everyone separated off as different things caught their interest and Hermione found herself alone with Draco. She insisted he try the red-wine spiked hot chocolate that Nuremberg Christmas market was so famous for, and he insisted on paying. He had come prepared and already had Muggle money with him, so he hadn't needed to borrow any from Theo.

"What's that over there?" asked Draco, pointing to a large upright wheel.

"Oh that's a Ferris Wheel, highest one I've ever seen," said Hermione, gulping nervously as she looked up at the height.

"Must be a great view from up there," said Draco casually.

"I'm sure it is," agreed Hermione, "but I'm perfectly fine on the ground thank you very much."

"Are you a Gryffindor or aren't you?" Draco taunted her.

"Fine," huffed Hermione, "but I'm blaming you if we plummet to our deaths!"

Draco simply rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

They joined the short que and before Hermione knew it they were at the front of the line. Draco practically had to push her on, paying the attendant at the same time.

As they ascended their car started to swing in the wind and Hermione automatically grabbed onto Draco's hand in fright, burrowing her head in his shoulder so she missed the pleased grin that appeared on his face.

Once their car had stopped at the top a "Wow," escaped Draco's lips at the view of the city.

Hermione's curiosity won out and she looked out the window. "Wow," she said, echoing Draco.

As she looked at the view, Hermione realised how content she felt with the world at large in that moment. Tummy warmed from the hot chocolate with the sweet taste still on her tongue. Beautiful view and the sense of ease she had come to associate with being with Draco.

Abruptly she realised she was still holding onto his hand tightly and sheepishly removed it. "Sorry," she said, "Hope I didn't cut off your blood circulation."

"Anytime," Draco replied, giving her a wink.

She wasn't sure what to reply to that, if she didn't know any better Draco Malfoy was flirting with her, and part of her really liked the idea that he was.

As they looked at each other, The Quill Moment suddenly came to her mind and the attraction she'd been supressing for Draco since then, causing her to gulp nervously once again. Was it just her imagination or did his eyes just glance down at her lips?


	7. Misunderstandings and Musings

**A/N Thanks for sticking with me, nearing the end now I think. Currently obsessing over Hunger Games and just started delving into its fanfiction. Any recommendations for me? Adored 'Grow Together.'**

* * *

 **Misunderstandings and Musings**

Hermione's heart started to beat at an alarming rate, whether from panic or something else she wasn't quite sure. In the small car of the Ferris Wheel she was convinced Draco must be able to hear her heart beating so wildly.

Although she didn't know it, she currently bore the appearance of a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights. Treacherously her eyes darted to his lips and she heard him gulp.

Just as he'd started to edge towards her, their car started to move again and the moment was broken. As Hermione quickly looked out the window she could have sworn she heard a small sigh escape Draco's lips.

From her vantage point, she spotted two familiar figures, "Look there's Theo and Blaise," she said, pointing at them through the window. He leaned over her slightly to get a good look, causing her heart rate to spike even more. They happened to look up and Theo gave them a massive wave.

They spent the duration of the ride deliberately not looking at one another and trying to spot the rest of their crew. As soon as it was over and their door opened automatically, they both hastily exited and joined Theo and Blaise who were waiting for them.

Theo immediately put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, "You must come and try the utter delights I've just discovered," and dragged her off towards the Dutch pancake stall, much to Hermione's relief.

She couldn't help glancing back and saw Draco shaking his head at something Blaise said. Blaise's smirk could be seen gleaming in the night.

As Theo waxed lyrically about the Dutch pancakes, Hermione tried to calm her accelerated heart rate and considered what had just happened, or not happened, she thought wryly to herself. Was it just in her imagination or did it seem like Draco had been about to kiss her?

She was never very good at telling when a guy was about to kiss her, something Ginny found hilarious. When she would recount stories of kisses that seemed to come out of the blue, Ginny would chuckle at her and point out all the obvious signs she had missed.

Had Draco been going to kiss her? And did why did she feel so disappointed that he hadn't?

She forced herself to tune back into Theo's ramblings, just as he asked smugly, "So are you enjoying my birthday festivities?"

Laughingly she agreed, "Of course I am, you knew I've been dying to come here for ages! You really must like me a lot," she teased.

At one point during their newly forged friendship, Hermione had found herself wondering if Theo fancied her. He was always giving her hugs or putting his arm around her, sometimes being outrageously flirtatious. She could also tell how much effort he was making getting to know her.

Although she loved hanging out with him, she didn't have any romantic feelings towards him at all and felt bad if she was leading him on. After she had worked herself up into a panic about it, Ginny finally got her to confess what was bothering her. As Hermione poured out her dilemma, Ginny's smile had just become wider and wider.

"It's not funny!" insisted Hermione, seeing her friend's barely held in laughter, "How do I let him know I'm not interested in him without hurting his feelings?"

Chuckling, Ginny had replied, "Hermione, you really are dense sometimes. I know for a fact that Theo Nott does not fancy you."

"How on earth could you know that?" Hermione countered, failing miserable at hiding how offended she felt at being called dense.

Speaking slowly, as if to a child, Ginny said, "I know for a fact Theodore Nott does not fancy you because I know for a fact that Theodore Nott likes wizards, not witches."

Hermione's jaw had dropped at that bombshell, "Does everyone know?" she asked frantically.

"Yes!" said an exasperated Ginny, before slyly asking, "Do you think Malfoy would let him be so touchy feely with you if he wasn't?"

Hermione ignored her implied suggestion, although a blush had tinged her cheeks. It was an ongoing argument between the witches, with Ginny firmly believing that Malfoy had a huge crush on Hermione, something which Hermione equally firmly denied.

Looking at Theo now as he blatantly checked out the Dutch pancake guy, she couldn't believe how she'd missed it before. She'd once confessed her mistake to him, and he had often teased her about it since.

"You know how much I adore you," he said to her now, "But I've afraid it wasn't my idea."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione bewildered.

With eyes twinkling mischievously he replied, "My dear Hermione, someone who has a rather high opinion of you, practically begged me to organise this for my birthday this year, it was a beautiful sight," he teased.


End file.
